KESSAB, Syria–The Armenian populated villages of Kessab, Syria were the target of three days of brutal cross-border attacks from Turkey by al-Qaeda affiliated armed bands, which have cost 80 lives and forced the civilian population of the area to flee to neighboring hills, with many seeking safe-haven in the nearby cities of Latakia and Basit.

...

According to news reports, the armed incursion began on Friday, March 21, 2014, at 5:45a.m., with rebels associated with Al-Qaeda’s al-Nusra Front, Sham al-Islam and Ansar al-Sham crossing the Turkish border and attacking the Armenian civilian population of Kessab. The attackers immediately seized two guard posts overlooking Kessab, including a strategic hill known as Observatory 45 and later took over the border crossing point with Turkey. Snipers targeted the civilian population and launched mortar attacks on the town and the surrounding villages.

According to eyewitness accounts, the attackers crossed the Turkish border with Syria openly passing through Turkish military barracks. According to Turkish media reports, the attackers carried their injured back to Turkey for treatment in the town of Yayladagi.

Some 670 Armenian families, the majority of the population of Kessab, were evacuated by the local Armenian community leadership to safer areas in neighboring Basit and Latakia. Ten to fifteen families with relations too elderly to move were either unable to leave or chose to stay in their homes.

...on Sunday, March 23, the extremist groups once again entered the town of Kessab, took the remaining Armenian families hostage, desecrated the town’s three Armenian churches, pillaging local residences and occupying the town and surrounding villages.

I wasn't even aware that Syria had Armenian villages. I thought they were all in the cities. Lord preserve them!

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I wasn't even aware that Syria had Armenian villages. I thought they were all in the cities. Lord preserve them!

I think Kessab is a collection of ancient villages that the Armenians have inhabited for several centuries. I knew some Kessabtsis back in my college days. They have their own subculture and even a different way of speaking Armenian. They really identify with where they came from. They are not just Armenian. They are Kessabtsis.

I think the late Catholicos Karekin I was a Kessabtsi.

They suffered greatly during the time of the Genocide, but the survivors went back to their villages. I am sure that when this current ordeal is over, they will return again. They have a reputation for being very tough. Having endured what they have endured in the past, it is no wonder. Still, with what is going on right now, they need our prayers.

The memory of God should be treasured in our hearts like the precious pearl mentioned in the Holy Gospel. Our life's goal should be to nurture and contemplate God always within, and never let it depart, for this steadfastness will drive demons away from us. - Paraphrased from St. Philotheus of Sinai Writings from the Philokalia: On Prayer of the Heart,Translated from the Russian by E. Kadloubovksy and G.E.H. Palmer, Faber and Faber, London, Boston, 1992 printing.

Worship is theology, so a church which brings Evangelical and Charismatic "praise & worship" into its corporate life is no longer Orthodox. It is, by definition, heterodox. Those "Orthodox" leaders who make theological arguments for the incorporation of heteropraxis into the life of the Church are heretics.

Conquer evil men by your gentle kindness, and make zealous men wonder at your goodness. Put the lover of legality to shame by your compassion. With the afflicted be afflicted in mind. Love all men, but keep distant from all men.—St. Isaac of Syria

I had read that the Syrian Arab Army is already beginning to launch a counterattack within this region. They captured Crac de Chaveliers, Al-Qusair and Yabrud, so this village shouldn't be too difficult for them. Hopefully they can recapture the city so that these families can return to their homes.

Lord, have mercy!

« Last Edit: March 24, 2014, 03:53:01 PM by Severian »

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"I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die [...] These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." -The Lord Jesus Christ

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I had read that the Syrian Arab Army is already beginning to launch a counterattack within this region. They captured Crac de Chaveliers, Al-Qusair and Yabrud, so this village shouldn't be too difficult for them. Hopefully they can recapture the city so that these families can return to their homes.

Lord, have mercy!

God grant it! "O Lord, save Your people..."

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"This is the Apostolic Faith, the Orthodox Faith, and the Faith of the Fathers. Having this wonderful treasure, let us preserve it, let us keep it, and let us also use it in such a way that this treasure becomes the victory of Christ in us and in His Church." ~ St. Severus of Antioch ~

I had read that the Syrian Arab Army is already beginning to launch a counterattack within this region. They captured Crac de Chaveliers, Al-Qusair and Yabrud, so this village shouldn't be too difficult for them. Hopefully they can recapture the city so that these families can return to their homes.

"I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die [...] These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." -The Lord Jesus Christ

No longer active on OC.net. Please pray for me and forgive any harm I might have caused by my ignorance and malice. Pls email me, don't send PMs.

I had read that the Syrian Arab Army is already beginning to launch a counterattack within this region. They captured Crac de Chaveliers, Al-Qusair and Yabrud, so this village shouldn't be too difficult for them. Hopefully they can recapture the city so that these families can return to their homes.

God bless the Syrian army. Is there anyone holding Turkey's feet to the fire re: facilitating these attacks and harboring these terrorists? I doubt it.

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Worship is theology, so a church which brings Evangelical and Charismatic "praise & worship" into its corporate life is no longer Orthodox. It is, by definition, heterodox. Those "Orthodox" leaders who make theological arguments for the incorporation of heteropraxis into the life of the Church are heretics.

I had read that the Syrian Arab Army is already beginning to launch a counterattack within this region. They captured Crac de Chaveliers, Al-Qusair and Yabrud, so this village shouldn't be too difficult for them. Hopefully they can recapture the city so that these families can return to their homes.

People who fled are calling their home phones, and the terrorists who are occupying their homes are answering, some in Turkish.

The President of Armenia has gone to The Hague where he has protested what is happening. In his speech, he touched upon the history of Kessab:

Quote

The President expressed his deep concern over the events in Kessab. “All of us perfectly remember the history of Kessab, which was unfortunately full of hellish realities of deportations in the last 100 years,” said Serzh Sargsyan.

The President noted that the first scourge was back in April 1909 when the Turkish armed detachments invaded Kessab. The Armenians took shelter in mountain Garaturan and on the coast. After setting Kessab on fire and plundering it, Turks made their way to Garaturan, burned and looted the houses of the upper district. A French ship transported Armenians to Latakia. After living in Latakia for one year, the emigrants returned to Kessab and rebuilt their houses.

When touching upon the historical facts, Serzh Sargsyan also recalled another date – events of 1915, when the Kessab population also experienced migration and exiles of the Armenian Genocide. Armenians of Kessab were exiled in two directions: to Deir ez-Zor and to the south up to Jordan. Thousands died en route, the majority perished in Deir ez-Zor deserts.

One thing I was a bit surprised about was that the Young Turks or CNF were the ones who carried out the Armenian Genocide of 1.5 people. They overthrew the Sultan and were secularists, both of which was a major break with Turkish Muslim society. The Turkish secular political movement was the one that made it so that the Hagia Sophia was no longer a working mosque. Typically I thought of this Turkish secular movement as a very positive, modern development, and in fact it was originally welcomed by Greeks and Armenians who were in Turkey.

One thing I was a bit surprised about was that the Young Turks or CNF were the ones who carried out the Armenian Genocide of 1.5 people. They overthrew the Sultan and were secularists, both of which was a major break with Turkish Muslim society. The Turkish secular political movement was the one that made it so that the Hagia Sophia was no longer a working mosque. Typically I thought of this Turkish secular movement as a very positive, modern development, and in fact it was originally welcomed by Greeks and Armenians who were in Turkey.

Instead of being based around Islam, it was based upon pan-Turkish nationalism, envisioning a Turkish mega-state and endeavoring to force a Turkish identity on the subject peoples remaining in its truncated domain. We see what happened to the Greeks, Suryoyo, Armenians, Kurds and others. Enver and Kemal's pipe dream:

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Worship is theology, so a church which brings Evangelical and Charismatic "praise & worship" into its corporate life is no longer Orthodox. It is, by definition, heterodox. Those "Orthodox" leaders who make theological arguments for the incorporation of heteropraxis into the life of the Church are heretics.

The point is that it is an Orthodox Christian village, predominantly Armenian, that is being targeted for eradication by Islamist rebels attacking with near impunity from strongholds across the border in Turkey. Please pray for its inhabitants.

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Worship is theology, so a church which brings Evangelical and Charismatic "praise & worship" into its corporate life is no longer Orthodox. It is, by definition, heterodox. Those "Orthodox" leaders who make theological arguments for the incorporation of heteropraxis into the life of the Church are heretics.

"I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die [...] These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." -The Lord Jesus Christ

No longer active on OC.net. Please pray for me and forgive any harm I might have caused by my ignorance and malice. Pls email me, don't send PMs.

I'll probably hear more about this tomorrow at Church. Let's hope the withdrawal of the terrorists continues.

Not only in Kasab, but in Aleppo and elsewhere. God grant it!

I've heard no news on what they are doing to the Christians in North Iraq in their new gains, except that the burned down an Assyrian church. I shudder to think what more has happened.

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Question a friend, perhaps he did not do it; but if he did anything so that he may do it no more.A hasty quarrel kindles fire,and urgent strife sheds blood.If you blow on a spark, it will glow;if you spit on it, it will be put out; and both come out of your mouth

"I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die [...] These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." -The Lord Jesus Christ

No longer active on OC.net. Please pray for me and forgive any harm I might have caused by my ignorance and malice. Pls email me, don't send PMs.

"This is the Apostolic Faith, the Orthodox Faith, and the Faith of the Fathers. Having this wonderful treasure, let us preserve it, let us keep it, and let us also use it in such a way that this treasure becomes the victory of Christ in us and in His Church." ~ St. Severus of Antioch ~

The Syrian air force has begun striking ISIS targets elsewhere in the region, including Raqqa. Hopefully they can liberate the oil-rich town and end the plight of the Christians living there. The militants in Raqqa have enforced Islamic law, imposed the dhimmitude status on Christians and have already crucified two believers.

« Last Edit: June 16, 2014, 02:03:18 AM by Severian »

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"I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die [...] These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." -The Lord Jesus Christ

No longer active on OC.net. Please pray for me and forgive any harm I might have caused by my ignorance and malice. Pls email me, don't send PMs.

The Syrian air force has begun striking ISIS targets elsewhere in the region, including Raqqa. Hopefully they can liberate the oil-rich town and end the plight of the Christians living there. The militants in Raqqa have enforced Islamic law, imposed the dhimmitude status on Christians and have already crucified two believers.

Were the militants who took Kessab ISIS? I thought they were affiliated with al-Qaeda. From what I've read ISIS is it's own thing and has been fighting the other rebels, including al-Qaeda-affiliated groups, as well as Assad. Indeed, I also read that Assad was abetting ISIS in order to weaken the rest of the opposition.

The Syrian air force has begun striking ISIS targets elsewhere in the region, including Raqqa. Hopefully they can liberate the oil-rich town and end the plight of the Christians living there. The militants in Raqqa have enforced Islamic law, imposed the dhimmitude status on Christians and have already crucified two believers.

Were the militants who took Kessab ISIS? I thought they were affiliated with al-Qaeda. From what I've read ISIS is it's own thing and has been fighting the other rebels, including al-Qaeda-affiliated groups, as well as Assad. Indeed, I also read that Assad was abetting ISIS in order to weaken the rest of the opposition.

don't believe everything you read.

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Question a friend, perhaps he did not do it; but if he did anything so that he may do it no more.A hasty quarrel kindles fire,and urgent strife sheds blood.If you blow on a spark, it will glow;if you spit on it, it will be put out; and both come out of your mouth

"I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die [...] These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." -The Lord Jesus Christ

No longer active on OC.net. Please pray for me and forgive any harm I might have caused by my ignorance and malice. Pls email me, don't send PMs.

This article about what happened just appeared. It corroborates what I've heard in the community:

Quote

Kasab's descent into hell began at 5.30 am precisely on March 21st 2014 when merciless shelling from the Turkish side of the Syrian border rained down on the undefended Armenian village, not only sending its 2,000 residents into panic but portending the apocalypse that was about to befall them.

Over 20,000 fanatics from al Nusra, the Free Syrian Army and a number of other extremist groups swarmed over the border on motor bikes, pick-up trucks and Western ambulances converted into troop and munitions carriers for this blitzkrieg. Though hopelessly outnumbered, lightly-armed Syrian troops held off the invaders until the inhabitants could be evacuated. Sunnis, Shias, Alawites and Armenian Christians all fled for their lives from these fanatics...

Kasab's very elderly residents, who were too infirm to flee, were ferried, against their wishes, into Turkey and, like the earlier kidnapped nuns of Ma'lulah, were cynically paraded to pretend their kidnappers had their interests at heart. Pepken Djourian and his wife find that a particularly bitter pill to swallow as the invaders executed their only son in front of them and let him to rot for three days in the sun before throwing him like a dog into a hastily dug hole in their apple orchard, a particularly apt analogy as his murderer said that Kevork's death meant they "had one less Armenian dog to worry about". Following his murder, Kevork's parents were held against their will for the next forty days in Turkey, where their kidnappers even brought Turkey's American ambassador to admire how well they were being treated and where noted author Nizar Khalil willingly acted as interpreter between the aged Armenian captives and their Turkish captors.

Kasab's descent into hell began at 5.30 am precisely on March 21st 2014 when merciless shelling from the Turkish side of the Syrian border rained down on the undefended Armenian village, not only sending its 2,000 residents into panic but portending the apocalypse that was about to befall them.

Over 20,000 fanatics from al Nusra, the Free Syrian Army and a number of other extremist groups swarmed over the border on motor bikes, pick-up trucks and Western ambulances converted into troop and munitions carriers for this blitzkrieg. Though hopelessly outnumbered, lightly-armed Syrian troops held off the invaders until the inhabitants could be evacuated. Sunnis, Shias, Alawites and Armenian Christians all fled for their lives from these fanatics...

Kasab's very elderly residents, who were too infirm to flee, were ferried, against their wishes, into Turkey and, like the earlier kidnapped nuns of Ma'lulah, were cynically paraded to pretend their kidnappers had their interests at heart. Pepken Djourian and his wife find that a particularly bitter pill to swallow as the invaders executed their only son in front of them and let him to rot for three days in the sun before throwing him like a dog into a hastily dug hole in their apple orchard, a particularly apt analogy as his murderer said that Kevork's death meant they "had one less Armenian dog to worry about". Following his murder, Kevork's parents were held against their will for the next forty days in Turkey, where their kidnappers even brought Turkey's American ambassador to admire how well they were being treated and where noted author Nizar Khalil willingly acted as interpreter between the aged Armenian captives and their Turkish captors.

...

Lord have mercy. I'd like all those in the West who think the Free Syrian Army is worth supporting to take note of their participation in this atrocity and other acts of terror.

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Worship is theology, so a church which brings Evangelical and Charismatic "praise & worship" into its corporate life is no longer Orthodox. It is, by definition, heterodox. Those "Orthodox" leaders who make theological arguments for the incorporation of heteropraxis into the life of the Church are heretics.